Tesla: fleeing journalists ran over Gigafactory staff

Tesla has alleged that members of its Gigafactory security staff were assaulted by a photographer and journalist from the Reno-Gazette Journal. The pair were trespassing at the site of Tesla's new battery factory, which is currently under construction

The Reno-Gazette Journalreported last week that photographer Andy Barron was arrested by Storey County sheriffs on a charge of battery with a deadly weapon -- the deadly weapon in question being one of the newspaper's own Jeeps. An unnamed journalist accompanying him was also arrested for trespassing.

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Tesla said the newspaper staff refused to give their names to the factory's security team and "denied that they were trespassing even though they had climbed through a fence designated with 'private property' signs." When Gigafactory security personnel asked the journalists to wait, telling them that the Sheriff's Department were en route, the pair ignored them and got into their Jeep.

Tesla's statement goes on to describe how Barron, behind the wheel of the Jeep, "put it in reverse and accelerated into the Tesla employee, knocking him over" and leaving him with bleeding gashes. In an attempt to flee, the newspaper Jeep "struck the ATV that carried the two safety managers" and, when one of the safety managers got down and approached, "the driver of the Jeep accelerated into him, striking him in the waist."

The newspaper said it was "taking the incident seriously" and also reported the Jeep was damaged during the encounter, saying that "a rock had been used to shatter the driver’s-side window and the driver's-side seat belt had been cut in half." Storey County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro said he could not confirm how the damage had been done.

Tesla complained that the Gigafactory site had seen "repeated acts of trespassing", which it said were "illegal, dangerous and [need] to stop". For its part, the Reno-Gazette Journal said its reports on the Gigafactory had been "documenting the construction process from the beginning" and noted that the factory was "taking advantage of up to $1.25 billion in tax incentives" from the Nevada Legislature.